Ouya announces limited edition version of the $99 console

The Ouya Android console has been making a lot of news these days, especially with the recent announcement that an HD remake of Final Fantasy III would be a launch title for the console. If that, and the fact that OnLive will be on the console haven’t convinced you to put the $99 pledge for the console on Kickstarter, the newly announced limited edition version of the console would.

The limited edition of the Ouya console and the controller had its colour selected personally by designer Yves Behar. The limited edition is only available right now till the end of the Kickstarter campaign, which means that you have one week to reserve the limited edition, which is brown with brushed metal.

The limited edition of the Ouya console

Ouya plans to kick things off with the release of Final Fantasy III as a launch title for the console. This will be the first time gamers outside of Japan can play Final Fantasy III on their TVs through a console.

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According to a blog post on the Ouya Kickstarter page, “We’re promising to deliver Final Fantasy III like you’ve never seen it before - Hironobu Sakaguchi’s third installment in the role playing game franchise will be updated to exploit OUYA’s high-definition resolution in glorious graphic detail.” The game will also get a free demo for those new to the Final Fantasy series to see if they like the game.

This is after the recent news that the game streaming service OnLive will make its way to the Ouya console. OnLive’s general manager in the UK, Bruce Grove had confirmed the move in a statement, “When OnLive first heard about Ouya, we were excited to see console gaming becoming more available and open.”

“Like OUYA, we came to gaming with a new vision for making top-quality gaming accessible to more people, and we continue to look for ways to expand on that vision”, Grove continued, “OUYA is rethinking the console business, making waves by using standard technology to make gaming for your living room accessible, affordable and more innovative than ever. In OnLive’s case, we pioneered a groundbreaking, cloud-based system that instantly delivers games to any device on demand. We are pleased to announce that OnLive will be available on OUYA at launch, extending and building on our commitment to make the best games available to everyone, everywhere.”

The Ouya Kickstarter started in July. The team working on the Ouya has a dream of changing how the current console market works, where console manufacturers have a tight leash over what games can and can’t be on their system. Julie Uhrman, founder of Ouya – who has had executive experience at IGN, Vivendi Universal, and GameFly – thinks it’s about time the console market finally learned something from platforms such as the iOS, about new business strategies. “It’s ironic. All the growth in gaming is moving to mobile platforms, [and] we’re seeing a lot of AAA developers leaving their console shops to go to mobile. Yet three out of every four dollars is still spent in the living room, a majority of gaming time is still spent on the TV, and if you survey any gamer they’ll tell you their No. 1 platform is the TV," Uhrman said.

Here’s hoping that the console changes the way that the console games market currently works.